The Last Human: Chapter 6

The next day, I jaunted around town, asking about the witch on the hill. Fido refused to get up and, instead, was staying in the room until I got back. I walked up to the first two people in the village—an old man walking with his teenage granddaughter—and asked them, “Can you tell me about the witch on the hill?” They complied sternly.

“You best not be talking about the weather witch, son! The mayor warned us that she can hear everything and will strike down whoever offends her!” advised the old man suggestively.

He made sure to keep his voice down, so to not draw attention.

“My grandfather’s right! I heard that her powers are so great, she can make it rain fire from the sky,” the granddaughter remarked, albeit anxiously.

Well, all I got from that was that there was a vindictive, omnipresent witch with a serious ego problem. However, I can’t rule out that. So, I had to move onto the next person. Walking over to the general store near the entrance, I waltzed through the door and up to the clerk. I asked him the same question.

Unlike the last two I talked to, the clerk seemed more neutral on the subject, and didn’t speak ill about the witch. He explained in a moderate tone, “Well, all I can tell you is that the witch was very helpful in the beginning. She would make it rain and shift the temperature from hot to cold. She did a lot for us and instead made our town thrive. Unfortunately, 2-years-ago, everything changed. The weather became fickle, shifting from rainy to snowy, hot to cold, etc. almost as if the witch was mad at something.”

Okay…I think I got what I need. With the information from the three people I have interview, plus the knowledge I got from that little girl at the inn, I needed to have a word with this…witch. Maybe, even see if she really does exist.

I went back to the inn and into my room. I saw Fido staring directly at the window. It noticed me and said, “Glad to see you’re back, but, then again, who’s glad about anything?”

You’d think staring out the window while resting for an hour would have brighten up its’ mood. But, sadly, you would be mistaken.

“Come on, Fido. We’re gonna go talk to this ‘witch of Windsworth’ and see what we can do about her,” I stated firmly, ordering the robot dog to follow as I head out the room.

We stood outside of the inn. Before we could walk up the hill, a short stopped us, pudgy man who looked strangely like Sir Tomham Hatt ran towards us. When he stopped, he started gasping for breath, meaning he’s ben running for quite a while.

“Excuse me…young lad…are you the one…who’s been asking around about…the witch?” he inquired, gasping between sentences. Taking a deep breath, he regained his composure and stood up straight, standing about an inch shorter than me.

He introduced himself courteously, “I am the mayor of this town and I must implore you of how much danger you’ll be in if you proceed up the hill.” His tone of voice sounded nervous like as if he was hiding something.

I saw right through his façade. Clenching my fists and glaring at the mayor, I questioned defiantly, “Oh yeah. What would happen if I do continue?”

I noticed two men appeared, standing beside the mayor. They were armed with muskets and were dressed in blue shell jackets and gray trousers like Union soldiers. They were probably the guards of the town, or the mayor’s guards, that is.

I couldn’t really take them serious on the count since they weren’t as intimidating, having slender lanky frames and barely able to hold their rifles. Deadpanned, I walked passed them, calling out, “Come on, Fido. Let’s go!” in a monotone manner.

“It’s better than standing around, doing nothing,” Fido remarked as he followed.

I could hear the mayor stuttering, shouting to us, “W-wait! S-stop! You don’t know what’s up…” I tuned him out and kept on moving.

I didn’t want to listen to his threats. His petty attempts to intimidate me. This town is sick and something up on that weather station is causing it. Fido and I hiked up about 12 minutes, treading up the dirt-covered pathway until we finally made it to the building. However, I had the strangest feeling we were being watched. I turned around, taking a glimpse from the back and noticing a couple of the townsfolk following us. They even tried hiding from a distance, which was kind of ridiculous since I could still see them.

I brushed them off and walked up the door. I knocked and waited for a response. Fortunately, the door slowly slid open, which made me feel cautious. If there was a witch inside, then I would need to keep my guard up. If there wasn’t, then I could relax.

Opening the door, I sauntered inside with Fido taking the lead, first, and closed the door behind me.

The inside was a dump. There were clothes all over the place, some hanging on lines and some on the floor. On the console was a bowl of porridge, left to spoil and on some of the machines were wrappers, particularly candy wrappers. God, it was like being in a shut-ins house.

I took a closer look at the clothes hanging on the line. They’re small! They look like they belong to a teenage girl! I could tell from the feminine design as a grabbed one of them. I cringed. I tossed them aside when I realized I was holding someone’s panties and gasped in embarrassment from the feeling. They were soft and felt like polyester with tiny chibi bears all over them.

“Well, I guess that proves there is someone living in here,” I confirmed, arching an eyebrow while examining my surroundings.

Fido spoke up and stated pessimistically, “You know, according to the laws of thermodynamics, cleaning is merely just moving the mess somewhere else in the universe.” I couldn’t help but deadpan at his remark.

Suddenly, I heard some groaning coming from the end of the room. I walked over and saw a hammock hanging over the doppler radar system. On it, I saw someone sleeping on it while being bundled up in jackets.

The person leaned up, removing the sweaters from her face. She a young woman, about 15-years-old I think. She looked just like the people from the village, having the same light green skin as the others. However, unlike the villagers, she had poufy gray hair in the shape of clouds. She also had silver eyes, which was also unusual because most of the villagers had green eyes.

She got up and climbed out of her hammock, she slinked down, probably still tired. It gave me a good look of her, seeing her dressed in only a white-buttoned tank top and a pair of strawberry panties. She was walking over to the coffeemaker, pouring some fresh grounds and water, and waiting for the coffee to be finish. I guess she was so tired, she didn’t notice I was standing in her “room”.

“Should we introduce ourselves? If we don’t, I can predict that this isn’t going to end well,” Fido commented as he looked up at me.

Just then, she gingerly turned her head. Her eyes widened in shock when she finally noticed us. I sheepishly smiled, waving a hand towards her and mumbling softly, “Hi!”

Taken aback, she screamed. “Pervert! Creep!” she shouted frighteningly.

My ears started throbbing from how high-pitched her scream was. She reached for the closest thing and started throwing the jackets on her hammocks at us. Fido and I ducked and dodged each oncoming projectile at us.

“Wait! It’s not what you think! We don’t mean you any harm! We just wanted to see what was in this building!” I tried to explain, holding my hands up in a non-threatening manner. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to calm her down.

“How did you get into my house?! The mayor made sure nobody would come up here!” she irated, still throwing whatever she could find. She even threw the coffee pot, which was still scolding hot.

I was surprised by what I had heard. The mayor? What does he have to do with… my train of thought was cut off when an incoming lamp struck me against the forehead. Hopefully, it didn’t cause serious head trauma.

Before I blacked out, I heard the girl gasp, shouting, “Oh my Silus! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?!”

I woke up with my head pounding like a brick hit it. Placing a hand on my forehead, I looked and saw that I was in the girl’s hammock. I felt something draped over my head. I removed it and saw it was an icepack.

I looked and saw Fido staring at me and remarking sardonically, “Oh good. You’re awake. Now, I won’t have to apply CPR on you.”

I couldn’t help but glare and roll my eyes. I turned around and was surprised, seeing the girl’s watery eyes close to my face.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you! Please, don’t be mad!” she started apologizing, bowing her head over and over.

She was no longer wearing her sleepwear. Instead, she was dressed in a teal hater top dress with a short skirt and long sleeves that weren’t connected to the shoulders with wide wrists at the end, and a pair of teal thigh-high boots with wedge heels.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I felt a droplet of sweat forming on my brow. I wave my right hand and said sheepishly, “I-it’s okay! You didn’t mean to do it! You were just defending yourself!”

Her face brightened up when I forgave the girl. She smiled and blushed a little.

“I mean if there was an intruder in my house, I would do the same thing in self-defense!” I pointed out reasonably.

Getting up out of the hammock, I brushed off my body suit and introduced myself, “My name is Akira and the robot dog over there is Fido. Don’t mind him, he’s broken.” Technically, that last part was true.

“Yes, I’m broken. Like if any of you would care,” Fido remarked self-loathingly.

With that statement, the friendly atmosphere turned sour. It’s amazing that that robot hadn’t killed himself, yet. I didn’t really want that to happen, but you can’t blame me for thinking it.

Then, I heard a cough. I turned my attention back to the girl. She smiled and greeted, “I-it’s nice to meet you both. My name is Tempest Meriwether. However, you’re not supposed to be here.” Her tone became somber as she looked down at the floor.

Arching a brow, I asked, “Why is that?”

She took a deep breath, and answered earnestly, “Because I’m a danger to you and everyone, including you.”

“That’s insane. You’re a little girl. How are you supposed to be a danger?” I inquired skeptically.

“Of course, I’m dangerous!” she snapped angrily. Her hair frizzled with lightning coursing as she stiffed up. Then she continued with tears flowing from her eyes, “I’m dangerous…because I killed my mother!”

I was speechless. Tempest looked innocent, but she had just confessed to first-degree murder. I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Then again, I couldn’t just jump to conclusions. On the other hand, it seemed she did have powers.

She started to explain, wiping the tears from her eyes while sniffling, “You see, it happened 2-years-ago. My mother was the previous witch of Windsworth. For years, she would help the town prosper. When it was hot, she would make it rain; when it was cold, she would open the clouds to bring sunshine. She did so much for the people that they loved her. Then, one day, while she was teaching me how to summon lightning, I…I electrocuted her! I didn’t mean to! It was an accident!” the tears resumed flowing. She continued, “The mayor came in and saw me hovering over my mother’s body. He said ‘I’ll take care of this’ and buried my mother in secret. Since then, I’ve lived in this building. The mayor made sure to never let anyone come up, spreading rumors that I went rogue and will strike down anyone who’ll trespass.”

I got up and walked over, wrapping my hands around Tempest as I comforted her. I could relate to her. She had been through so much, and so have I.

Pulling back, I noticed the confused look on her face as she gasped. I said to her, “It’s okay. I don’t blame you for what you’ve done. We all make mistakes and it’s best that we keep moving forward.” My tone was soft and reassuring, trying my best to sound as sympathetic as possible.

When I let go, I stated sternly, “I’m going to make things right!”

Her cheeks became red as she started avoiding eye contact. I walked away as I headed to the door.

Before I left, I heard the girl and Fido converse.

“Where is he going?” she asked.

“Don’t know, but I’ll write his obituary if the townsfolk kill him,” he commented.

“You know, you’re a very morbid dog, right?” Tempest pointed out.

So, I left the weather station and strolled down the hill, heading straight to town and to have a little chat with the mayor since he was responsible for the girl’s reputation.